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Reefer Madness said:
The big white box is what I was referring too as my new nightlight. The big box is the icecap algae scrubber.

https://www.coralvue.com/blog/icecap-pro-in-sump-turf-scrubber-user-instructions
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Ah :). I did not think of this and have not seen them in this shape/color. But fits nicely into the middle chamber (I have the 'same' sump and my middle chamber is almost empty (only a tiny GAC reactor in it)). For the record though, I am not (no longer) a fan of a) a CO2 scrubber, and b) an algae scrubber or similar installations such as refugiums. A famous person once said, I am not in the business of growing algae but growing corals (or similar).
 
MichaelB said:
@ Alexander1312 wasn't alone lol I was also wondering why ato inside the sump as well. Ive heard of scrubbers but never actually seen one.
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I was trying the refugium that worked really well in my old system but it just wasn't working in this system. In my old system I was harvesting chaeto consistently but in this system with a higher watt output light i couldn't get it to grow. I even bought a bunch more chaeto thinking that since it's such a larger space and system I needed more. @JTFletch even brought me over some pom pom algae and even that didn't really grow. So I became impatient and frustrated after trying to make it work for so long I figured I would try something different.
 
Alexander1312 said:
Ah :). I did not think of this and have not seen them in this shape/color. But fits nicely into the middle chamber (I have the 'same' sump and my middle chamber is almost empty (only a tiny GAC reactor in it)). For the record though, I am not (no longer) a fan of a) a CO2 scrubber, and b) an algae scrubber or similar installations such as refugiums. A famous person once said, I am not in the business of growing algae but growing corals (or similar).
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Yeah I was just having an issue with too many nutrients and I was constantly dosing chemicals to get rid of it. I was thinking of getting a carbon reactor but with my way of thinking is to try and keep everything as natural as possible. The less stuff that is added to the tank to supplement for something missing should work best. With that said I don't have nearly the years of experience as the majority of people in here. That is why I don't really say much when it comes to advice because what do i know I'm still a rookie.
 
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Reefer Madness said:
Yeah I was just having an issue with too many nutrients and I was constantly dosing chemicals to get rid of it. I was thinking of getting a carbon reactor but with my way of thinking is to try and keep everything as natural as possible. This less stuff that is added to the tank to supplement for something missing should work best. With that said I don't have nearly the years of experience as the majority of people in here. That is why I don't really say much when it comes to advice because what do i know I'm still a rookie.
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Yes, adding ‘chemicals’ is certainly not the way to go. I do not see many or any being able to manage high nutrients naturally though. Still, the lanthanum chloride route seems to be a feasible way to manager high phosphsates without stressing corals or reducing trace elements significantly from growing algae in a scrubber or refugium - btw, why do you think you can grow algae in a reactor when you were not able to grow them in a refugium? This is typically an issue with insufficient traces if light and nutrients are ruled out.

The way to manage high nutrients in my opinion is limited to a) regular water changes, b) feeding appropriate to the tank size, c) keeping enough (large) corals to absorb them, d) right size the skimmer (do you have the 220 or smaller/bigger), and balancing dry and frozen food depending on if nitrate or phosphate are higher. The only other thing I do is carbon dosing by using Elimi NP from Tropic Marin (not vodka etc).
 
Alexander1312 said:
Yes, adding ‘chemicals’ is certainly not the way to go. I do not see many or any being able to manage high nutrients naturally though. Still, the lanthanum chloride route seems to be a feasible way to manager high phosphsates without stressing corals or reducing trace elements significantly from growing algae in a scrubber or refugium - btw, why do you think you can grow algae in a reactor when you were not able to grow them in a refugium? This is typically an issue with insufficient traces if light and nutrients are ruled out.

The way to manage high nutrients in my opinion is limited to a) regular water changes, b) feeding appropriate to the tank size, c) keeping enough (large) corals to absorb them, d) right size the skimmer (do you have the 220 or smaller/bigger), and balancing dry and frozen food depending on if nitrate or phosphate are higher. The only other thing I do is carbon dosing by using Elimi NP from Tropic Marin (not vodka etc).
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The lanthanum chloride is what I was using to manage the phosphate as well as the elimi NP. I do a 10% water change every weekend. I Feed pellets three times a day at 10,3 and eight. At eight I also feed mysis shrimp. The pellets are a mix of tdo and the algae pellets from Hikari. The skimmer is the reef octopus 200int. As far as the algae being grown, i was having/am having an issue of nuisance algae growing in the display and figured if it was able to grow it there that I would need a try to force the algae growth somewhere else hence the algae scrubber.
 
Reefer Madness said:
The lanthanum chloride is what I was using to manage the phosphate as well as the elimi NP. I do a 10% water change every weekend. I Feed pellets three times a day at 10,3 and eight. At eight I also feed mysis shrimp. The pellets are a mix of tdo and the algae pellets from Hikari. The skimmer is the reef octopus 200int. As far as the algae being grown, i was having/am having an issue of nuisance algae growing in the display and figured if it was able to grow it there that I would need a try to force the algae growth somewhere else hence the algae scrubber.
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Very similar feeding patterns to how I feed - 4 x dry + 1 x frozen daily. Not sure why you feed dry and frozen at 8 pm at the same time? I like to separate out feeding to give fish and clean up crew a chance to eat the food + leftovers. I have 0 visible algae in my display but A LOT in my overflow (cleaned up yesterday after 30 days). So, my clean-up crew most likely differs from yours. I am not sure what fish you have, but the tangs and Foxface should do a lot of work. I am a big fan of urchins—I have three large ones who I believe do most of the heavy lifting. I would go this route vs algae scrubber, but I know you bought this already and want your money worth back.
 
Alexander1312 said:
Very similar feeding patterns to how I feed - 4 x dry + 1 x frozen daily. Not sure why you feed dry and frozen at 8 pm at the same time? I like to separate out feeding to give fish and clean up crew a chance to eat the food + leftovers. I have 0 visible algae in my display but A LOT in my overflow (cleaned up yesterday after 30 days). So, my clean-up crew most likely differs from yours. I am not sure what fish you have, but the tangs and Foxface should do a lot of work. I am a big fan of urchins—I have three large ones who I believe do most of the heavy lifting. I would go this route vs algae scrubber, but I know you bought this already and want your money worth back.
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I have Two urchins and countless snails, emerald crabs and what not. Plus a several tangs too.
 
I used to supplement manganese and iron when I was growing chaeto really well. Could be something to monitor if you don't see good growth.
 
Alexander1312 said:
Were these not the ones that drain the tank a lot when turning off the return pump given how low they are positioned? I remember I was interested in them too but this was their downside.
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The locline is flexible so you could always angle it so it doesn’t drain too much. I printed myself some of the 3D RFG and they do drain a lot but not significantly more than a normal return. The benefits definitely outweigh that increase in backflow. I have dual returns on my frag tank and not running any Powerheads. Plus I made sure my sump could handle the backflow.
 
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